Welcome Back to E-Buzz

by Tim Tucker, ABF Membership and Marketing Committee Member and ABFE-Buzz Editor

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March." Dr. J.R. Stockton

We have had a bitterly cold time here in Southeast Kansas with a brief dip into the sub zero temperature area that finished off a few of our marginals and also did in my spinach crop growing in the hoop houses. It was a reminder of Februaries long past that have brought us "real" winters. I am thankful though that it was only a short spell and that the rebound has brought on the blooming of the maples and elms whose buds had swollen and were awaiting the return of spring. The bees were happy and excited yesterday with the return of 70-degree temperatures, which were 90 degrees above those of last week. Quite a turn around.

In this new issue of ABF E-Buzz, we have added a humorous story about a beekeeper in our "Bee Humor" section. I hope you find it as funny as I did, and if you have a favorite story that you tell at meetings or around the dinner table, send it on so we can all enjoy them in our upcoming issues.

The other new area for this issue is the "Food from the Bees" article. In this article we feature the blueberry. While many blueberries are self pollinating, there are varieties that benefit greatly from the pollination efforts of the honey bee. I have included some facts on the health benefits of this wonderful fruit, as well as a couple of links to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and a local blueberry grower here in Kansas that I have become acquainted with when he called to ask me to put some bees on his berries. Since coming to know Lance and Elizabeth Chastain we have become good friends and I look forward to visiting the bees at the blueberries. There are great facts on how to harvest, store and use this wonderful food from the bees in tasty dishes. So, check them out and thank the bees for the great work they do!

Also new to ABF E-Buzz is our featured Beekeeping Vendor of the Month. We have chosen to introduce you to the oldest family in the beekeeping supply business — Dadant and Sons. You may have seen the handout they had on their family history at the conference in January, but if you didn't I hope that you will enjoy it and find it as interesting as I did. You will also find in this issue a poem, which are the lyrics to a song about the honey bee, another great recipe for using honey, our latest beekeeper of the month and some great news items that I hope you will find interesting as well.

Thanks again for joining us and if you have any news items or events that you would like to publicize for all our ABF E-Buzz readers, let me know by sending it to tuckerb@hit.net. I look forward to hearing from you!

Bee Issues: True Source Certified

True Source Certified is a non-profit organization formed by several packers to create a certification process for honey that will give participating entities a tool to fight back against transshipped honey. On February 16, 2011, there was an informational and organizational meeting for True Source in Chicago, which was attended by about 50 packers, importers and beekeeping organizations. The ABF was represented by George Hansen, ABF vice president. The program is ready to get off the ground in its first phase — certifying country of origin.

The program is based on third-party independent audits of exporters and packers, as well as registration of importers and a voluntary registration by U.S. and Canadian beekeepers. The auditing company will be Intertek, which conducts audits for similar food programs worldwide. The cost of the certification will be covered by fees and registrations from participants.

Exporting companies wanting their products to be certified from the source identified in the paperwork will register and be audited for authenticity or the origins of the honey. These audits will be carried out in the country of origin. Each barrel will be given a unique ID. Importers will register and pay a fee. They will agree to maintain the integrity of the certification, but will not be audited. Packers receiving this honey will pay fees to participate, and will be audited by Intertek to certify the products sold by the packer. Beekeepers can voluntarily register, but will only be subject to an audit as a part of the packer's audit to establish country of origin. Honey sold as True Source Certified will have an audited paper trail verifying the authenticity of the all the product's sources, including domestic. All phases of this program conform completely with the stipulations in the new U.S. Food Safety Law.

Discussions during the Chicago meeting centered around expanding the program to include quality. Currently, quality issues would be handled by the packer's own testing after receiving the product. An advisory board is being formed to develop the next steps. More information and the registration schedules can be found on the True Source Certified Web site at www.truesourcehoney.com.

Food from the Bees: Blueberries

by Tim Tucker, ABF Membership and Marketing Committee Member and ABFE-Buzz Editor

I have had a few of our colonies on a couple of blueberry producers in our area and have enjoyed the fruits of the bee's efforts for the past couple of years. One of those blueberry producers in our area is Chautauqua Hills Farm and you can see a few pictures of me checking in on their hives on their Web site at http://chautauquahillsfarm.com/tag/tucker-bees. They are producing some of the biggest blueberries in existence with the help of our bees.

Whirl fresh or frozen blueberries in your morning smoothie and sprinkle them on cereal.

Heat blueberries in maple syrup to pour on pancakes or waffles.

Sprinkle dried blueberries on chicken salad.

Perk up your yogurt snack with a handful of blueberries.

Shake up your trail mix with dried blueberries.

Substitute dried blueberries when a recipe calls for raisins.

Add blueberries to a peanut butter sandwich and call it a PB-and-BB.

Stir blueberry juice into iced tea or lemonade.

Freeze blueberries and blueberry juice in ice cube trays to add to juice.

Bee-friend the Honey Bee: Support the ABF "Friends of the Bee" Fund

Looking for the perfect way to honor a friend or family member while helping to protect and preserve one of nature's finest? Why not make a donation in his or her name to the Friends of the Bee fund?

The honey bee today faces it's largest challenge in its long history — its continued survival. Factors fighting against the honey bee include:

Parasitic varroa mites that not only affect colony numbers, but vector over a dozen viruses that affect honey bee health.

Continued loss of habitat due to urban expansion and the even larger problem of monocultural practices of modern agriculture.

Challenging weather extremes that can affect honey bee health due to drought and floral degradation.

Increased use of pesticides affecting all beneficial insects.

With your generous donation you can help protect the honey bee habitat, aid in the fight against Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), encourage government-sponsored research, assist in the battle against adulterated honey in the marketplace and help ensure the continued role of the honey bee in pollinating 1/3 of our food supply.

Support the world's most beneficial insect and become a friend of the bee with your donation of $25, $50 or $100. Donate today and receive a stylish Friends of the Bee bumper sticker…and help us tip the balance back in favor of the honey bee. Click here to download the donation form or contact the ABF at 404.760.2875 for assistance.

Beekeeping Vendor of the Month: Dadant and Sons, Inc.

by Tim Tucker, ABF Membership and Marketing Committee Member and ABFE-Buzz Editor

Our vendor of the month was the first one to come on board with our "Membership Pays" program, which offers discounts to new members and, in their case, discounts to all ABF members who need to purchase equipment. The Dadant family is always there to help with any cause that affects either the bees or us as beekeepers. They are a company with the deepest heritage in this industry. I hope that you enjoy this story of the history of their family. You can also find their online catalog at www.dadant.com.

The Beginning

The Dadant family has been interested in beekeeping for over 180 years. The founder, Charles Dadant, was born in 1817 in Vaux-Sous-Aubigny, a small village in eastern France, the second of seven children born to a small village doctor. He became interested in bees as he helped a neighboring priest remove honey from straw skeps at the early age of 12. Disillusioned with the business possibilities in France, he decided to accept an invitation of an old friend, Mr. Morlot, then of Basco, Illinois, to come grow Champagne grapes and raise bees. In 1863, at the age of 46, he emigrated to America and settled in Hamilton, Illinois. The growing of grapes here did not prove to be lucrative, so he abandoned them in favor of honey bees. Charles was once the largest producer of extracted honey in America, as well as one of he first to import queen bees from Italy on a large scale as he was unhappy with the common black or German bees he found here. He began a series of experiments on the size of hives and wrote a great deal on the large hive that appeared in both American and European journals. In 1872, he was offered the editorship of the American Bee Journal, but refused because of his unfamiliarity with the English language. He learned to read the New York Tribune by digging at the words one at a time with a pocket dictionary so that he could then translate it back into French for his wife. Charles was a dreamer and a man with ideas and determination. He was the experimenter who became more widely known abroad than in his adopted country.

The Second Generation

Camille Pierre (C.P.) was only 12 years old when his father brought the family to America. Learning to read at the age of 4, Camille was more practical than Charles and was given the responsibility of carrying the purse strings at a very young age - he was the business man of the two. He built the business around his father's knowledge and became a beekeeping leader. When his father wrote home to France that he had settled on a 40-acre farm north of Hamilton that he had purchased from Mr. Marlot, the rest of the family packed their trunks and started for the unknown land that C.P. had only dreamed of. When he first saw the Mississippi he couldn't believe how magnificent it was in its beauty, almost equal to a lake. He described living in the small log house that his father had built as the happiest time in his life. Every improvement and change for the better was made due to their own efforts and appreciated because of this. He wold joke of a European business man and a little boy digging out oak trees and using a brush scythe to mow down all the hazle brush. The concept of a plow (pulling on the handles to go down and pressing down to bring it out of the dirt) went against all of his notions of mechanics.

It was necessary for him to devote himself to the family farm and the sale of his father's honey and farm products. In 1871, when his father suffered from an asthma attack, it became necessary for him to take over the family's 70 hives as well. Because there was no bridge across the Mississippi at this time, it was necessary for him to get up by 4:20 a.m. in order for him to get himself and goods to the ferry by 6:15 a.m. He considered himself lucky for many years that he was small because Captain Van Dyke never charged him for the ferry. He knew he was a grownup for the first time when the captain held out his hand for a dime.

He learned at a young age not to spend his money on candy and other desirable frivolities, as it would be like throwing his money in the Mississippi for he and his family. He always got a good price for his wares when he sold them, as he was a firm believer that "it pays to furnish good goods." In 1875, C.P. married Marie Marinelli and took her to the same log cabin his father had taken his family to. In 1878, they began manufacturing foundation for their own use and later, for sale. As the business grew, they improved upon manufacturing methods and helped to finance the invention of the weed sheeting machine, still in use today. In 1885, the revision of Langstroths' The Hive and the Honey Bee was entrusted to them and four revisions appeared under their names from 1889 to 1899. Charles translated it into French and later it was translated into Italian, Russian, Spanish and Polish. Charles died in 1902 and C.P. proceeded to produce four revisions of the book himself. In 1912, he retired and assumed publishing of the American Bee Journal, which has been published in Hamilton ever since. His goal was that the journal be the finest publication on bees and beekeeping in the world. In 1904, C.P. retired and built a home in Hamilton on what is now North 7th street overlooking the Mississippi. In his retirement, he became a community leader helping to establish banks, the library and helped bring about the building of the dam between Hamilton and Keokuk. On his retirement as he watched his three sons take over the business he stated, "So we have reared a family of beekeepers. Now they can speak for themselves and we can take a back seat and watch them work." Camille Dadant passed away in 1938.

The Third Generation

Three out of seven children born to C.P. were sons. They each graduated from the University of Illinois. Louis in mechanical engineering, Henry in civil engineering and Maurice in business administration. They all returned after college to help their father with the business. The business had been named Charles Dadant and Son. They were in the process of changing the name to Charles Dadant and Son and Grandson when Charles died in 1902. They eventually altered it to Dadant and Sons as each son began to return to join the business. In 1924, they moved the business of of the original family farm into an old tire factory in town where the company continues to house its corporate office today. They incorporated in 1948. Louis spent a number of years managing the bees and plant production. He later turned his attention more to sales of beekeepers supplies and the purchase of crude beeswax for comb foundation. Henry devoted his attention to plant problems and development and, in 1921, invented crimp-wired foundation. This foundation was received enthusiastically and the business grew to new levels. Maurice devoted his time to the American Bee Journal and the business in general. All three worked closely with bees. Under this generation came the introduction of the Dadant hive and many advances in the business of selling and providing beekeeping supplies. In following with the custom in France and with their father and grandfather, each of the three agreed they would bring a son or son-in-law into the business. It was during this transition that the business added the line of candles for the Catholic church. The introduction of gilt-edge foundation and the necessity of manufacturing woodenware also became apparent in this era.

The Fourth Generation

The first of the fourth generation to appear was Henry's son-in-law, Roy Grout. The second was the son of Louis, James, and later the oldest son of Maurice, Robert Dadant. After World War II, James found other interests, and the second son of Maurice, Charles, joined in 1946. This era saw the firm emerge as a modern and complex industry with a wide variety of interests. In 1963, as part of their Centennial celebration, a plastic base foundation, Duragilt, was introduced along with a new revision of The Hive and the Honey Bee. In 1966, Charles Dadant assumed his position as president of the company. "Chuck" was a visionary and loved to try new products and methods of marketing. Under his tenure as president, the company grew tremendously with the addition of 10 branch locations, a metalware plant in Dallas City, Illinois, a woodenware plant in Polson, Montana, and a new candle factory in Kahoka, Missouri. In the early 1950s, he encouraged his good friend and co-worker, Dr. G.H. (Bud) Cale, to develop a hybrid bee breeding program, which successfully developed the first commercially available hybrid queen bees known as the Starline and Midnite Hybrids. In 1990, Charles turned the leadership over to his two sons, Tim and Nick Dadant. A good friend and beekeeping associate once described Chuck as someone who spoke softly but was listened to carefully. He was known to not take big jumps, but wisely a step at a time.

The Fifth and Sixth Generations

These generations continue to succeed in growth in the beekeeping industry. They each play a role in the business aspect of running the company but with different areas of expertise. Tom oversees the religious line of candles, Tim the decorative candles and Nick the foreign, as well as U.S. sales of supplies. They have overseen another revision of The Hive and the Honey Bee in 1992 and continue to publish the monthly American Bee Journal. Dadant and Sons houses one of the largest private libraries of beekeeping literature. The company continues to remain the largest manufacturer of beekeeping supplies and is still a believer that "it pays to finish good goods." And with the recent addition of Gabe Dadant and Luke Menn, sixth generation members, the family tradition with continue well into the future.

Beekeeper of the Month: Liz Vaenoski

by Tim Tucker, ABF Membership and Marketing Committee Member and ABFE-Buzz Editor

I have been paying very close attention to the beeswax sculptures that Liz Vaenoski has been creating for the last 10 years, but I had no idea of how talented she really is until I received some pictures of past sculptures that she has done. Some of them, such as her bull riding cowboy and bronc busting cowboy, are absolutely stunning. I was absolutely amazed with the semi load of bees that she did several years ago at the Jacksonville conference, but her beeswax sculpture of the American eagle that she did for George Bush is a real work of art. Liz has been donating wax sculptures to the ABF, the California Beekeepers Association and the Wisconsin State Beekeepers for many years, raising a lot of money for those interests. It is a labor of love for this industry that is unparalleled. She has also contributed to the ABF Legislative Fund raising efforts with her pewter sculptures, which she sends to those who need special recognition.

Liz met her husband John, a commercial beekeeper running 1,400 hives, when he ran an ad in the paper for a single gal with an extractor. "Send picture of extractor" was the request, and Liz responded with a picture of her and they soon met and married in 1980. "From the start, my John always said 'bees come first' and he wanted to let me know what I was getting into," Liz fondly remembers. "I knew he really wanted to marry me when he gave me an engraved hive tool before he gave me a ring." The couple had no children of their own, but have adopted five sons and one daughter from the bee world. Those kids are Lee Heine, Pat Heitkam, Bob and Gene Brandi, Reg Wilbanks and Janet Allen.

As a child, Liz worked with her aunt and uncle running their bees, so she knew what she was getting into when she married John. John had invented a special wax melter that has helped in producing the cleaner wax that has been used by Liz in creating her wax sensations. Both of the Bush presidents have wax eagles created by Liz and it is said that the senior Bush has his in his library in Texas.

When Liz's aunt and uncle died (Marcus and Edna Osborne - ABF members), Liz sent her first piece of wax as a memorial for them to the ABF. It was a short time after that when Liz joined the ABF, which records show was 1990. When John passed away, Liz continued keeping the bees, but in smaller numbers. She now sells all of her honey that she produces on the honor system, hardly ever seeing her customers. They take the honey and leave the money. She simply has a sign that states: "God is a personal friend of mine." This system has worked for her and John for over 30 years.

Liz has worked for many years to mentor beekeepers at club meetings and at her home. She loves to talk at grade schools, senior groups and college classes for seniors who take short courses. There are also garden clubs, state meetings and workshops to teach candle making and rendering of the wax. She has even been to Canada to speak on beeswax. She and John made a series of DVDs that explain how to do some of the basics in beekeeping. Liz sells many of her teaching aids at cost to help people see what goes on in her beekeeping operation or gives them away to simply promote beekeeping. She always says that there are as many ways to keep bees as there are beekeepers. Says Liz, "John always said to follow success. That is about as simplistic and truthful as any advice gets."

Liz always drives to ABF conferences because that's what it takes to deliver most of her creations to the competition and get them there safely. She says that she has OnStar, so she is never alone in the car. She also brings lots of other things for money making projects and feels that it's her purpose to help raise funds to assist the associations and clubs that she participates in. Being an active part of what is going on and not just sitting around being entertained for the week is her goal. Success in anything takes a lot of work and teamwork with everyone playing a part. Liz starts as soon as she gets home from the conference getting ready for next year. There's no doubt that's what it takes to produce some of the art she brings each year. Another big effort for Liz is fund raising for the Minnesota Laboratory. She is hoping that this will be "our" lab, created by money that the beekeepers have given themselves. We can all certainly benefit from what might be discovered there.

I promised to check into the story regarding the Best of Show beeswax entry from Liz being donated to Zac Browning last month at the conference. Zac had been the bidder against someone on the other side of the room and when the bidding stopped the winner presented the sculpture to Zac. Well, the rest of the story from Liz is that she had sent Zac a sculpture awhile back because she had heard of Zac's involvement in cleaning up an accident site involving a load of spilled bees. Apparently, Zac donated much of his equipment and time to clean up the wreck for another beekeeper, simply wanting to help a fellow beekeeper who had lost so much in this spill. Liz had prepared a wax sculpture as a bit of recognition for his graciousness and, unfortunately, Zac's sculpture was delivered wrecked and totally destroyed by the delivery company. A group of people, who wish to remain anonymous, went in together and purchased the sculpture and awarded it to Zac for his dedication to another specific beekeeper, but also wishing to recognize his generosity to the ABF for all of his time and efforts during the past few years.

Liz's hope for the future of beekeeping is that we must all work together and not let self interests or pride get in the way of progress as a team. It is a challenging time, and mites and other problems have made it difficult to continue this lifestyle, so we need to promote what and who we are as beekeepers. "This is a very hard business, very labor intensive," Liz notes. "The life of a bee has its own parallels. The last stage of the bee's life, being that of a field bee who goes out gathering nectar. On one of their flights they're not going to come back."

My personal feelings are that I hope Liz has a lot of flights left that will bring her to future conferences in the coming years and that she keeps using her artistic talents to produce many more beeswax creations. Thank you, Liz, for being such an involved member of the ABF and for your demonstrative efforts in the area of fund raising. Thank you again for allowing me to introduce you to those who have not had an opportunity to know you or what you have contributed.

Buzzmakers: Latest and Greatest Beekeeping Industry News

"With an army of bees and a determination to increase pollination in Seattle, Corky Luster is helping to stave off the drop in the honeybee population. What Luster didn't count on: that customers would go crazy over his honey." That's the lead-in for Corky Luster's entry in the AMD Visionary of the Year Awards. He's a finalist in the Foodie category, and you can watch a video and vote for him at http://www.amdvisionary.com/video/corky.html.

Introduction to beekeeping video is a great experience for those new to the industry. "Honey" takes us on a tour of Sanoma County beekeeper Serge Labesque's hives and bee yard. Covering everything from the nature of the honey bee, through the dramatic decline in beekeeping, to the emergence of Colony Collapse Disorder and the wonders of honey, this really is a delightful trip to the world of the honey bee. To view the video introduction to beekeeping visit http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/introduction-beekeeping-honey-bees.php.

Bee Humor

One hot summer day a beekeeper was headed back to the honey house with a load of supers to extract. He pulled into town to be met by a long funeral procession coming down the street in the other direction. It was well over a hundred degrees and no shade in sight, but he pulled over and stopped his truck on the other side of the street. Immediately he got out as the hearse approached and he stood with his hat across his chest, quietly uttering a few words in a prayerful moment. A young man who was walking his dog happened to notice the old beekeeper standing by the road with such a deep respect. He approached the old fellow who even had a tear on his cheek. "Do you always pull over and pay respect to the recently departed in this manner? I have never observed anyone quite so thoughtful." The old beekeeper looked at the young man and replied, "Well, we were married for 47 years!"

Bee Thankful

For every third bite you eat, thank the bees,
For the peppers on your pizza and the cheese.
You know that bees make honey, but the nectar's
just the tease,
For every third bite you eat, thank the bees.

CHORUS: Hum a little hum, Buzz a little buzz,
For every third bite you eat, thank the bees.

Some plants send their pollen on the breeze,
Pollen makes some people wheeze and sneeze.
Well, the bees are so much neater,
Toting pollen on their knees,
For every third bite you eat, thank the bees. CHORUS

Flowers cannot go out on a date.
They just have to sit around and wait.
Until they get the pollen,
They cannot set the seeds,
For every third bite you eat, thank the bees. CHORUS

For bees and moths and hummingbirds and bats
The flowers all put out their welcome mats,
The colors and the nectar
And the smells are sure to please
The bats and moths and hummingbirds and bees. CHORUS

It isn't every bee knows how to sting,
Some are only sweetness on the wing.
Like the orange blossom special
They sound among the trees
For every third bite you eat, thank the bees. CHORUS

Recipe of the Month: Blueberry Breakfast Bake

Recipe Courtesy of U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council

Editor's Note: Honey has been substituted for maple syrup in this recipe as it appears on the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council Web site.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove crusts from bread; cut in 1-inch cubes (makes about 10 cups). Cut cream cheese in small cubes (makes about 1 cup). Grease 9-x-9-2-inch baking dish. Place half of the bread cubes in the dish. Scatter cream cheese cubes and 1 cup of blueberries over the bread. Top with remaining bread cubes and blueberries. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, honey and butter. Carefully pour over bread mixture. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour, covering with aluminum foil if edges brown too much. To serve, cut in squares. Accompany with additional honey, if desired.